Triple Chocolate Eclairs

I've never made eclairs before. 

Never.

I'm a little embarrassed about that because the only reason I never tried to is I thought they were really complicated to make. I don't usually attempt anything if I don't immediately believe I will be good at it. I know... I know.... That's not how one grows as a person. 

I'm terrible. I get it.

Anyway, I was feeling like I needed a bit of a challenge and Sue assured me that I would be fine making eclairs as she had made them and didn't die. She's very supportive... oh wait... I mean sarcastic... 

After researching a few recipes I decided on this one - I figured if it ended up in the garbage then I wouldn't be out too much moolah. They are actually really inexpensive to make - again, surprising to me, I thought they were super costly. Nope. Not so much.

Triple Chocolate Eclairs

Ingredients

Dough

3/4 cup water, boiling

6 Tbsp butter, cut up

1 Tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup flour

1 Tbsp baking cocoa

3 eggs

Filling

2 cups whipping cream

1 box instant chocolate pudding

1 Tbsp cocoa powder

Glaze

1 cup chocolate chips

1 tsp coconut oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 425. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, set aside. 

Prepare dough - In a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir together water, butter, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and stir in the flour and cocoa powder. 

Return to heat for 1 - 2 minutes - until smooth and forms a ball. Remove from heat again and let rest 5 minutes. 

Beat in eggs, one at a time, making sure it is smooth and glossy between each addition. 

Scoop dough into a piping bag and pipe into 1 X 4 inch strips. (You should get approx 12.) 

Bake at 425 for 5 minutes. Then, reduce heat to 350 and bake for 30 minutes. Shut off the heat and let rest in oven for another 10 minutes. 

Remove from oven, poke each with a toothpick (to release any remaining steam) and let cool completely. 

When cool, carefully cut in half diagonally and set aside.

Prepare cream filling - Pour whipping cream into a bowl and add the pudding mix and cocoa powder. Beat until stiff enough to pipe. 

Pipe onto the bottom half off each eclair.

Prepare glaze - in a flat bowl, or plate with sides, melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil and stir until smooth. Gently dip the top half of each eclair into the glaze and shake off any extra. Place back on top of the cream.

Chill until ready to serve.

The chocolate glaze on top will solidify so it won't get all over your fingers!

I had so much fun making these. Granted, my piping skills need a little work. My eclairs were NOT equal at all. That's okay - I plan on practicing more with regular eclairs and playing with all the possible fillings. 

I could just eat a million of these. So light and airy and creamy and delicious. 

Also.... I love cream puffs, which are basically just teeny eclairs, so that is going to be happening as well. 

Should I try going out of my comfort zone more often? Absolutely. Will I? Well, that remains to be seen. Hey, a girl's not going to change overnight BUT I did try making eclairs so I can cross that off my bucket list now.